Tricks of the Circus Company
by Terah Nightwind
Summary: Sequel to 'The Dark Kingdom'. 20 years after the defeat of Chaos, all has settled in to peace. However, when the daughter of Hotaru and Hirokazu goes missing, an old enemy has returned to make their lives a nightmare.
1. Chapter 1

"Daddy doesn't have to find out," the little girl whispered as she and two older children made their way in to a dark room. "I-I'm brave."

The boy and girl, twins, exchanged looks and smiled. As the younger made her way in to the dark room, the boy closed the door behind them which snuffed out any remaining light. "Are you sure you don't want to go hide with mummy?" the boy asked.

She shook her head and stood her full height, which, considering she was only five, wasn't that tall.

"I'm not afraid!"

The older girl laughed and went over to the large cloth and ripped it from its resting place. The three coughed as dust billowed and when the youngest looked again, she could see a mirror. It was set in a vanity and looked very old.

"What is it, Nethanel?" she whispered to the boy.

Nethanel ran his hand down the glass, getting dust and dirt on his white glove. "It's a mirror, silly girl."

"I know THAT! I mean… why?"

"Because it's SUPPOSED to be a surprise," a new voice chided. The three turned in fear to see two more entering the room. "Honestly, Nethan, don't you know what 'surprise gift' is supposed to mean?"

"We're just showing her. And my name is Nethan_el_. NOT 'Nethan'!"

The girl giggled in to her hand and walked in to lift the smallest child up. "Do you like it? We found it in the castle."

She reached out to put her hands on it. "It's pretty, Serenity."

Princess Serenity, the older child of Neo Queen Serenity, smiled. "I'm glad you like it, Miyu. Alexi and I had it set for you."

It had been nearly twenty years since the defeat of Chaos, and the empire was enjoying peace and harmony. Princess Serenity and her brother Prince Alexi had been given a peaceful childhood of laughter, music and parties. Their three distant cousins, Miyu, Nethanel and Harmony, never had to know the horrors of the Thousand Year War.

"So WHY did you both bring her here to ruin my gift?" Serenity demanded. The twins looked down.

"We wanted to scare her. She's always with her mummy, we wanted to give her a scare," Harmony finally explained.

"Harmony!"

"Shut up, Nethanel."

Serenity sighed and carried Miyu out of the room and sat her on the ground. "Go to the ballroom and find your parents. I will speak with Lady Venus about her twins."

Miyu looked back to the mirror and blinked as a strange shadow crossed over it. It was gone a moment later and she ran off.

* * *

Prince Hirokazu was scratching at the claw marks on his back as he spoke to one of the soldiers who had been given the day off. It was his daughter's fifth birthday and he had invited everyone to celebrate. Much to his delighted surprise the Neo Queen had offered them the Crystal Ball Room, the largest in her castle for the event.

It wasn't time for the celebration to begin as guests were still filtering in and he caught sight of his brother talking to Sailor Mars. Walking over he got his arm around Yukio's neck and pulled him back. "Brother! So good of you and the Lady Venus to attend! I was beginning to wonder if I would have to drag you from one another!"

Mars laughed as Yukio went red in the face. "Unhand me!" He slipped free and straightened his jacket. "I would not miss Miyu's party, I have attended each year."

"Yes, yes, and each year you find reason to excuse yourself early. Not this year!" Hirokazu laughed and pat his back. "Still, it is good to see you. How have you been? How are the twins?"

Yukio went to answer when the doors to the ball room opened once more to allow the children to enter. Princess Serenity was carrying Miyu in while her younger brother had Harmony and Nethanel by the ears. "Son of a whore."

"General, I do believe these belong to you." Alexi let the two go and stood to his full height. He was nearly eye level with Yukio, even at the age of fifteen. "We caught them trying to scare Princess Miyu. Again."

Yukio got between his errant twins and his younger brother. "You both know damn well to leave Miyu alone. Do you never learn?"

Harmony winced at the angry face of her uncle. "It was just some fun, father."

Nethanel nodded. "No harm."

"Yes, and your last round of 'just fun' had Miyu wetting the bed for weeks. Where is your mother?" Yukio dragged the two off to find his wife.

Serenity passed the little girl to her father. "Many pardons on it, majesty."

"No need for the formalities. I still have trouble getting used to being the ruling king on Saturn. 'Prince' is just fine." Hirokazu held his tiny girl on his hip. "Thank you for looking out for her."

"I am afraid they spoiled my gift. I had a vanity prepared for her with a beautiful mirror set. It took a years' allowance, for both myself and my brother," she explained. "I shall ask for it to be moved later this evening."

Hirokazu nodded and finally put Miyu down. "You're getting old, and heavy," he told her.

"I am NOT old, daddy! I'm still a little princess!" she insisted.

"I will have to speak to the Neo Queen about keeping you from getting older. Perhaps a large rock placed upon your head?"

Miyu screeched and put her hands on the top of her head, mussing it from its tidy place. "No, daddy! No! Mummy!"

He laughed as he straightened. "I'll be sleeping in a guest chamber for the next fortnight for that. Serenity, what's this about a vanity?"

The princess straightened. "Oh, just an old mirror I found in one of the rooms, Prince Hirokazu. No one had seen to it in quite a long time. I had it reframed and placed."

"You'll forgive me if I shudder. I am not fond of mirrors."

More and more guests had begun to filter in by the time Hirokazu was moving away from the blows of his angry wife. Miyu was hiding behind her skirt and was terrified of the idea her father would put a rock on her head to keep her small forever.

"You apologize to her, now!"

With a laugh he knelt down to look the terrified child in the eye. "I won't put a rock on your head, Miyu. You have to grow up big and strong, so you can become the next Sailor Saturn." He ran his thumb over the mark of Saturn on her forehead.

With a sniff, she hugged him and he lifted her back up to present her to the Neo Queen. "Cousin, thank you for allowing us to celebrate here, in your Crystal Ball Room. Such a kind gesture." He bowed as well as he could while Miyu pulled on his tie.

Endymion stood next to his wife, helping her stand as she slowly moved about the room. "Your mother allowed my wedding in her castle and it made Endymion unbelievably happy. This was the least I could do in return," the Neo Queen explained.

"And you, Miyu, are you enjoying it?" she asked.

Miyu just turned and buried her face against her father. He laughed and gave her a pat on the head.

"She loves it. I think your white hair scares her a bit. Reminds her too much of Grandmother's."

He wandered off with her as the presents were being brought in and piled on top one another. The largest of which was the vanity. Hirokazu plopped her on the small seat and knelt behind her. He played with her hair and smiled. "I like this. This mirror is… a little familiar. Perhaps I've seen it when I was younger than you."

Miyu tilted her head. "Daddy, there's a lady in the mirror."

He continued messing with her hair and laughed. "Silly child, that's you." He stood to greet his sister as Miyu continued to stare at the woman in the mirror who was now laughing.

* * *

Once all the gifts had been moved, Hirokazu returned to Elysion Castle. Miyu was to spend the week with the Lady Earth at the child's own request. The vanity had been placed in her room and she was standing before it, staring.

"Do you not plan to eat, child?" Demetrious asked. He stooped down and groaned as his knees creaked. "Snacks have been prepared for you. If you tarry about much longer, I shall have to eat them myself."

Normally that would have terrified the child and forced her to run to the dining hall, but today she remained in place.

"Perhaps you are not hungry? Ah, yes, I would assume too much cake and too many sugary treats would do that to a young stomach." He lifted her up from behind. "Then we shall have you dressed and presented to your grandmother."

Miyu reacted violently. She struggled and squirmed and kicked until Demetrious had to drop her. She was screaming and crying. He backed away so the nanny could enter and see to the child.

"What did you do?" the young woman demanded.

"What did I do? What did SHE do? I merely told her we would visit the Lady Earth!" he shouted. Miyu sniffled and hiccupped as her tantrum subsided. "Let her nap, then. I will inform the Lady."

Demetrious walked out of the room and ran his hand down his face. "I spent years tending to orphaned children, yet this one vexes me so."

He made his way in to the throne room and was given a confused look by the small assembly. "Demetrious, may I ask why you are present without Princess Miyu?"

"The young Lady of Saturn requires a nap from the festivities. And I, my lady, require an ice pack for my eye." His left eye was beginning to turn black from where he'd been struck by the child. "She made her tiredness known quite dramatically."

The Lady Earth looked a little sad but instead gave a dismissive wave of her hand. "Very well, then."

Demetrious bowed and went to retrieve the ice for his bruised eye. He passed Miyu's room and stopped. There was the sound of whispering, both voices female.

"Miyu? I was under the belief you planned to rest, child," Demetrious explained as he popped the door open. "Do you require a glass of water? Where is your nanny?"

The voices stopped at once as the door creaked open. Miyu was sprawled across her bed and snoring lightly. The advisor was confused but shrugged it off as sleep deprivation. He'd heard his share of voices in the past two decades.

After setting Miyu right and covering her back up, he walked out of the room and rubbed his neck. He never saw the figure clinging to the corner of the room against the ceiling.

* * *

Harmony knocked on the door to Miyu's room a week after her birthday. She and Nethanel had come to apologize to Miyu under threat from their angry father. Nethanel looked up and down the hallway before turning back.

"We can't go back to mother and father if we don't apologize," he whined. "I'll not be locked in the room again, I'll go mad!"

"Not being one to state the obvious, brother, but you were mad to begin with." Harmony pulled a pin out of her hair and began to work the lock. It turned after a moment and she stepped inside with him to see Miyu sitting before the vanity mirror.

"Greetings, cousin. Nethan and I would like to apologize for our behavior." Harmony put her hands on her hips. "If you'd be so kind to accept it, we'll be on our way."

Miyu didn't turn to look at them. She continued to stare at her reflection. Nethanel hit Harmony on the arm and hissed that his name wasn't 'Nethan', but said no more of it. He was looking around the rather unkempt room. Toys were strewn about.

"Miyu, did you hear me?" Harmony demanded. She pushed her white-gold hair back and went to put a hand on the child's shoulder. Nethan turned at once when he felt pain in his chest. Harmony was on the floor quicker than he could blink and was curling in on herself as though something had struck her in the chest.

"Harmony! S-someone call a medic!" he called out. "Miyu, what happened?!"

Miyu said nothing and gave no indication that she knew anything had happened. Nethanel looked up to see the medics rush in. They began to work on Harmony.

"Miyu, WHAT HAPPENED?!" Nethanel demanded. He grabbed her shoulder and held on. He felt his chest seize and though that his heart had stopped. He let go with a violent jerk and began to cough. He felt like he was drowning and his lungs burned. He vaguely heard someone call for help before nothingness.

* * *

Yukio stormed in to the med room three hours after he'd been alerted that his children had been injured. The doors crashed open and startled everyone inside.

"HEART ATTACKS?!" he screamed as loud as he could. The nurses who did not know him very well moved away quickly. "They are ELEVEN YEARS OLD, how can it be a HEART ATTACK?!"

"Good general, please, not so loud," Demetrious begged. His eyes were dark from the lack of sleep over the past several days. "We have ill who need rest. Come, come, I will take you to the children."

He was taken to a separate room where Nethanel was already up.

"Father!" The boy jumped to his feet at once and ran over. "We tried to offer apologies to Miyu as you insisted, but something happened!"

Yukio walked past his son and stopped over Harmony. She was still resting.

"Nethanel, tell her to wake."

The boy looked up at him. "But…? Father, she was hurt and needs rest."

"I said 'wake her'," he growled. Rather than anger the general further, Nethanel closed his eyes for a long moment. As he opened them again, Harmony did as well. "What happened to you?"

"It was Miyu," Harmony said with a groan. "When I touched her shoulder to alert her to our presence, my heart seized."

Yukio grit his teeth and balled his hand to a fist. It was that unfortunate moment that his brother came in to the room to check on the children as well. Yukio turned and punched Hirokazu in the teeth and knocked him back. Harmony shrieked at the sudden violence and Demetrious had to usher the woozy children out of the room. Yukio landed another hit on his brother and continued hitting him until several soldiers had to run in and pull him off.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT! I TOLD YOU! I TOLD YOU TO NOT SIRE ANY ABOMINATIONS!" Yukio shrieked. He broke free and grabbed Hirokazu by the front of the shirt. "Now my children were injured by her! Control your monster, brother, or I will have it put down!"

He tried to punch him again and was struck himself. Hirokazu hissed in pain from hitting his older brother and got back up. Blood ran from his mouth and nose and he wiped it up with his sleeve. "Shut up. Don't say things like that about my daughter. She is sweet and innocent. Those terrors of yours will not leave her be."

Yukio went to hit him again but instead he screamed in pain. The Lady Earth had been summoned and she had taken his wrist and snapped it. "I thought I had made it clear, General Yukio, there is to be no fighting in my castle. What is going on?"

* * *

In the throne room, soldiers surrounded the brothers to keep them from one another. A nurse was setting Yukio's wrist while the queen screamed at the both of them.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" she finally huffed as she paced back and forth in front of her throne.

"Apologies," they chimed as one.

She sat down and glared at them. "Next time I catch either of you fighting, it will be a week tending to Demetrious' nightmares."

"I take offense to that!"

"Shut up." She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Miyu injured her cousins, you said? Unfortunate. Return her to Saturn, perhaps she is angry at them at unwittingly using her inherited powers."

A low vibration rumbled softly through the throne room, unnoticed by most. The queen, however, stood at once. The brothers looked confused as she shoved past them to the door and threw it open. The remains of a shriek came over them and Hirokazu was the first out the room. He followed the sound until his heart seized.

It had come from Miyu's room.

Miyu was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

The Lady Earth had an enraged prince, four dead guards and at least twenty dead or dying civilians on her hands now.

The moment it had sunk in that Miyu was gone, Hirokazu had lost any pretense of sanity. He'd had to be sedated and chained in a cell to prevent more deaths. Every soldier had been called back in on emergency orders and she had gone so far as to request – 'demand', in the eyes of the other kingdoms – additional soldiers to her.

She was sitting at her main computer to review all security cameras from the past several days. The images blurred by too quickly for human eyes to comprehend.

"Majesty?"

The screen flipped off but the images continued to run through her mind as she turned to see little Harmony standing in the doorway with her brother.

"The both of you are supposed to be back on Venus. All non-essential personnel have been removed from the castle," she warned. "King Hirokazu of Saturn is dangerous right now."

The girl walked in the room. "We want to help find Miyu." Nethanel frowned but Harmony held her hand up to silence him. "She is our cousin, and I am a Sailor Soldier, like you."

The Lady Earth turned back to the computer. "You are a child."

She expected that to signal to the both of them to dismiss themselves, but to her annoyance they remained. They were as stubborn as their father. "Demetrious."

Her advisor got up out of his chair where he was fighting sleep. The shadows under his eyes indicated he was in his fifth day. With a drunken stagger he put his hands on Harmony's shoulders and began to guide her out. He did not speak, not trusting himself to remain as composed as he always did.

The door was shut behind them and she heard him struggling with the lock, latching it moments before he succumbed to sleep. She stood with a sigh and went to throw her cloak over him as a blanket when she froze.

An image of the intruder flashed across her vision. She stood there and magnified it until she could make out the face.

The servant who had vanished, the girl who had marked everyone.

She was alive.

* * *

"This is infuriating," Yukio growled. He was sitting in a chair as his wrist was checked. His wife sat with him and his sister-in-law stood against the wall on the other side of the room. He held his tongue as he eyed the sharp blade she carried with her.

"My brother is locked away and the castle stands empty. Miyu is gone and more soldiers to see to pour in from each planet, and I have an injured wrist."

"My daughter is more important than your petty injuries," Sailor Saturn reminded.

He sniffed. "Your daughter has become a threat, Hotaru." Yukio inhaled sharply and backed away when the blade of her glaive came up under his chin.

"Care to repeat that?"

"STOP IT! Both of you!" Venus pushed the glaive away and stood between them. "This isn't going to help us if we start another war!"

Saturn put her glaive down and turned to face the door. "I am going to go see my husband. Keep your dog chained," she warned.

Once she left, Venus sat down next to Yukio. "You have to stop baiting both of them. You know how your brother is when it comes to her."

Yes, he knew. His niece was named after a human girl who'd had her head sliced off by the Black Moon Family during the war. Hirokazu had never gotten over it, seeing as he had been responsible for the girl being in danger in the first place. Naming his only child after the girl was, in his own way, an apology he could never give. Miyu meant the world to him.

"He is marked by Chaos. So is she. She has the claw marks down her back, as well," he reminded. "They are vessels of evil. The more the line continues, the less protection each child will have."

"That does not matter right now," Venus reminded. "Miyu is his joy, and someone has taken her out of her room, from one of the places she was supposed to be safe. Even the Lady Earth is at arms over it if she has demanded reinforcements."

Yukio ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair. "What I fear now, beyond Chaos, is what this has done to my brother. You… do not know Hirokazu as I know him. I know what he is capable of, what sleeps in his blood. I saw it once before, shortly after the girl was killed. He vaporized the chains that held him."

The look on his face said that he was remembering. It was a gaze that stared out into eternity.

"My brother is dangerous. The magic that sleeps in him will make him a killer if we are not careful. Because if it comes to it, I will not hesitate to let him share Miyu's fate. I will take his head myself."

* * *

Sailor Saturn walked in to the dungeon where her husband was being kept. The soldiers saluted her before stepping aside. She was arguably one of the most powerful Sailor Soldiers in the Court. She could handle herself, especially when she carried her Glaive. Stopping outside Hirokazu's cell, she knelt down.

It hurt her heart. He had his hands chained behind his back with Dark Metal to drink any energy he tried to pour in to it. And with his normally clean and neat clothing askew, it just gave a look of insanity. He was not himself.

"Hirokazu?"

He did not answer, but she heard the chains move.

"Hirokazu, I have spoken to your mother. She has identified the person who took Miyu. That's good, right?" she asked with hope in her voice. "We can track them and I can bring her back."

Some of the handful of survivors claimed the prince could never go back to how he was. That somehow, losing his daughter destroyed his rational mind. Hotaru hoped, and felt, that if Miyu was brought back safely, it would bring him back. She knew the story, this was the only way.

He still did not speak, but she knew he was thinking. The way he shuffled about just told her.

"It was that girl. The one who killed Mercury and Jupiter. The servant."

The low growl shook her and she readjusted her position. "She must have fled the castle before the battle all those years ago. I will bring her back, alive and well. Then you can put that rock on her head."

She laughed a little at the promise in hopes it would calm him. He would worry himself sick at the pace he kept up. Her laughter choked in her throat, though, as a shadow whipped out of the cell and wrapped around her neck and tightened.

The Glaive clattered to the ground as she frantically clawed at it with her hands. She bruised herself and felt herself bleed from the urgency. The guards came running to her aid only to choke as well. The screams were absorbed by the stone walls of the dungeon.

They were thrown back when an explosion blew the cell out. Hirokazu stood up and walked out as though he were simply taking a leisurely stroll. The scraping of his chains was the only sound. The binds on his hands dissolved like dust leaving the bonds on his ankles.

He knelt down next to Hotaru and brushed his hand carefully over her cheek and pushed some hair away. The memory of learning about that little bitch came to him and he stood back up, walking out of the dungeons and then out of the castle.

"I'll kill you."

* * *

"YES! You heard that correctly!" Yukio shrieked at the slightly-distorted image of one of his commanders. "Hirokazu has escaped! He is dangerous at this moment! You are to subdue him with any force necessary!"

Harmony and Nethanel winced. They had never seen their father act like this. He did not like Miyu they knew, but he had never shown such aggression when it came to their uncle. Exasperation was the most he would show them before.

Their mother was with them. They were in trouble for agitating Miyu in the first place. There was no way to know this would have happened. Harmony was hiding partially behind her brother.

"I want every soldier under my command to know this! If they are not ready for combat, they are to return to their palace at once!"

He looked wild, far from the uptight and neatly organized man they had known their entire life. Sailor Venus ushered them out of the room and they looked to one another.

"It's because of Miyu, right? Because we tried to frighten her?" Harmony wondered.

Nethanel shook his head. "No. A girl came and took her. And that made uncle Hirokazu angry."

"Is that why he tried to hurt aunt Hotaru?"

"No. Hotaru was in his way."

Both froze and turned around to see the Lady Earth standing over them. She stared down at them with her yellow eyes that always scared them both. It was like she looked through you, rather than at you.

"Aunt Hotaru was… in his way?"

The Lady Earth nodded. "Yes. I doubt he meant to harm her, only stun her long enough to escape. He loves her almost as much as he loves Miyu."

Harmony looked at Nethanel before taking his hand. "We want to help! I'm a Sailor Soldier, after all!"

"So you keep telling me." The Lady Earth went to step in to the room where her general was, but Harmony got in the way. She looked down in amazement that someone was stopping her. "Excuse me, child, but you are in my way."

"I'm not moving until you let us help!"

The Lady Earth simply walked around her and into the room, sealing the door shut behind her. Harmony was livid.

"I guess that's that," Nethanel said as he straightened his white gloves out. He yelped as Harmony took his sleeve and began to drag him off. "What are you doing?"

"If she won't let us help, we'll do it on our own! Come on, we have allies to gather!"

"What allies are you talking about, you insane girl?! Let go of me!"

She didn't let go, she kept dragging him. "The Sailor Soldiers! We can ask our friends for help in locating Miyu!"

"Do you know what father will do if he finds out? We would be lucky to only be locked in the room for a month!" he reminded.

Harmony would not listen to him, though. Miyu was in danger, and they would have to save her. Because she was a Sailor Soldier, and she would prove it to everyone.

* * *

In the circus, the freaks were laughing. He did not care. They did not bother him. He walked through their forms, brushing them aside like irritating gnats. He pulled his hood down to reveal his face, covered with a mask and stepped forward to the old woman who seemed to be in charge.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded.

He said nothing and held his hand out. A ball of shadows formed above his palm and shot out around him, striking several of the freaks and causing them intense pain. Four girls dropped around him, ready to attack when he closed his palm and ended his strike.

"I'm a Magician," he finally said. His voice was as dark as his shadows. "I flee the light of the White Moon and seek refuge among you."

The girls looked to one another and then to the old woman. It was clear that they didn't know what to do.

"We don't have that little clown here," the pink one said. "Can we trust him?" She looked back to see he had another ball of shadow in his hand and was playing with it, as if to just keep his hands moving.

"Anyone who wants to flee the White Moon and Golden Earth are welcome here." The old woman tapped her staff. "Welcome to the Dead Moon Circus, 'Magician'."


End file.
